Typically, gas turbine engines include a compressor for compressing air, a combustor for mixing the compressed air with fuel and igniting the mixture, a fuel injection system, and a turbine blade assembly for producing power. Combustors often operate at high temperatures that may exceed 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Typical turbine combustor configurations expose components of turbine engine fuel systems to these high temperatures. Turbine engines fuel systems typically include pilot nozzles for injecting fuel into a combustion chamber. Conventionally, pilot nozzles have been bolted to a support housing to attach the pilot nozzles to turbine engines. A typical support housing consists of a base having an orifice extending through the base for receiving the pilot nozzle. The pilot nozzle is bolted directly to the base. During use of this conventional configuration, the pilot nozzle has a natural frequency that falls within an excitation zone, which thereby subjects the pilot nozzle to destructive vibrations.
Other conventional support assemblies have included sleeves coupled to the orifices of the support housings to increase the natural frequencies of the pilot nozzles such that the natural frequencies are outside excitation zones to reduce, if not eliminate, destructive vibrations. Typically, the sleeves have been welded to the support housings. However, the welds have not had a sufficiently long life as a result of the vibrations inherent in operating turbine engines. Thus, a need exists for a more efficient, reliable pilot nozzle support system.